<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>rage by celsidebottom</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29384424">rage</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/celsidebottom/pseuds/celsidebottom'>celsidebottom</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>heart of aphrodite 2021 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, The Heart of Aphrodite | Azu Fan Week (Rusty Quill Gaming), allusions to the kobold awfulness, is 'quadruple drabble' a thing? it was accidental, set during 147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:29:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>400</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29384424</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/celsidebottom/pseuds/celsidebottom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I’m going to take you down."<br/>―Azu, to the machine.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>heart of aphrodite 2021 [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150658</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Heart of Aphrodite</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>rage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>day 5: restraint - revenge - rage</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The monster-machine towers above her, a dreadful fusion of instrument and automaton, dull steel mechanisms pumping neon green fluid like some awful heart. At the centre of it lies the brain, seeming unassuming and almost underwhelming. That is, if she hadn’t already been through the dungeon, been victim to the games and tricks of Shoin. As it is, she feels no pity or sympathy for the brain. Only a deep and certain rage.</p>
<p>She calls on the power of Aphrodite and it flows through her, strengthening her resolve and guiding her hands, and with her Goddess’s divine wisdom she sees this creature is truly evil. She clenches her jaw.</p>
<p>“I’m going to take you down,” she says. Quietly – she doesn’t need the monster to hear it. It’s not a threat, but a promise, to herself and to anyone Shoin has hurt, and to Aphrodite.</p>
<p>She takes a step forward.</p>
<p>
  <em>Zolf’s face, pale and wide-eyed, as he steps through a doorway and is impaled on a spike trap, moments before collapsing limp on the floor. Hamid’s panic, hidden under a thin layer of fake cheer as he is separated from his friends. Cel’s endless positive attitude and curiosity fading into exhaustion as they descend ever-deeper into the labyrinthine institute. </em>
</p>
<p>She breaks into a run.</p>
<p>
  <em>The overwhelming fear as the wave bore down on her, impossibly fast and improbably huge, knocking her breathless and stifling her scream of fear. Closing over her head, threatening to trap her in that dark, murky underwater world forever.</em>
</p>
<p>She swings her axe up high, twisting her body in the way she has done countless times before, the blade perfectly angled.</p>
<p>
  <em>Below the institute, in a cavern big enough to match the palace of Apophis themself, hundreds upon thousands of cages line the walls. The kobolds inside hunker in a daze of fear and false contentment, the drugs forced into their systems keeping them docile and unaware. </em>
</p>
<p>She brings her axe down, the weapon’s wail joined by her own yell of effort and rage, and by the unholy clash of metal-on-metal as it carves a deep gash into the body of the machine. It shows no outward sign of pain, just slowly turns itself in her direction. She stumbles backwards to a safe distance and grits her teeth. That holy fire still burns in her chest, and she has no intention of going back on her vows.  </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>